Price Guides, October 2005: Video Cards
by Anand Lal Shimpi & Howard Johnston on October 1, 2005 5:54 PM EST- Posted in
- Guides
High End Graphics
Although ATI remains the value leader in the High End video card market, the price gap seems to be closing this week. Those still looking for a high performing AGP video card are in luck this week as the ATI Radeon X800XL 256MB [RTPE: 100-435508] for under $250.
If you've taken our advice and sprung for a PCIe motherboard, you'll be happy to see that the PCIe version of the X800XL has dropped to around $260:
NVIDIA's 6800GT AGP is looking less like a good idea as supply for these cards dries up and prices begin to increase. If you're stuck on AGP then you're best bet will be an X800XL.
After the 7800GT launch, we've seen the price of most 6800GT PCIe cards drop close to the $299MSRP. However, as we saw on the previous page a 7800GT can be had for merely $50 more. The smart, forward-looking decision would be to spring for the 7800 series card since all of the 6800 series is falling out of production; SLI won't be real practical if there are no cards left (note: this is not true for the 6600 series). If you're considering SLI, don't forget that a single 7800GTX will perform better, produce less heat, take up less space, and cost less than two 6800GTs!
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LoneWolf15 - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
And the fact that the 6800 has twelve pipelines and the 6600GT has only eight isn't a main difference?
yacoub - Monday, October 3, 2005 - link
That's better than spending $30 more and getting an X800XL how exactly?
yacoub - Monday, October 3, 2005 - link
*Is the R480 core in any way better than the core of the X800XL?*What is the difference in RAM latency and clock between this card and an ATI X800XL?
*Are you really getting 95% of the performance of an X800XL for only $30 less, or are you better off paying the extra $30 to get the X800XL?
zemane - Sunday, October 2, 2005 - link
On page 1, the RTPE link for LeadTek GeForce 7800GTX 256MB takes to eVGA GeForce 7800GT 256MB, instead.islandtechengineers - Sunday, October 2, 2005 - link
im not making millions yet.... i feel like every 3 months i'll have to dish out around 500 for a newer card.... $2000 a year in video cards anyone?qquizz - Sunday, October 2, 2005 - link
lol, write it off as a business expense!phaxmohdem - Sunday, October 2, 2005 - link
$2000 a year in video cards = you need a money management class :P or enroll at a gamer rehabilitation center. hahaLets see:
Geforce4 Ti4600 = $300.........2002
Radeon 9800PRO AIW = $250......2004
Radeon X800XL = $350...........2005
So $900 over 4 years = $225/yr on video cards.... Looks like I need to kick it up a notch :)
xsilver - Monday, October 3, 2005 - link
i think he's refferring to if you made the huge mistake of:6800gt ultra AGP
6800gt ultra SLI PCI-E
7800gtx SLI
all in close to 12 months
actually I think thats more than $2k there
and if you were really stupid, you could have bought yourself 2x 6600gt's too when the first 6800ultras were in very low supply (just to try out SLI, why? i dont know) -- there are people on the forums that have done this...
SuperFubario - Sunday, October 2, 2005 - link
My 7800Gt is coming tuesday....upgrading from a 4400TI. Like day and night boyyyy! Good time to pick one up as the price is just falling.Brian23 - Sunday, October 2, 2005 - link
I could use a new card. Still running my GeForce 3 Ti450. However, with new cards just around the corner, I'm going to wait until spring semmester is over and just upgrade the whole PC instead. I'll get an X2, 19" LCD, fast PCIe card... I cant wait!